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They call it Murderball

The first time you witness a Quad Rugby game, prepare yourself for some shock and awe.

June 11, 2017

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You’ll see players careening down court at impressive speeds in tank-like wheelchairs with no brakes, hell-bent on stopping the guy with the ball from crossing the goal line. They smash. They collide. Chairs get knocked silly. In a tournament game between the Portland Pounders and the Seattle Slam, a particularly violent collision caused a player to get almost completely upside-down under his chair, wheels spinning. The pit crew ran out with large sheets of cardboard (to protect the floor!) to slide under the chair before helping him back up.

Indeed Quad Rugby is definitely a contact sport. Also known as Wheelchair Rugby or its original name, Murderball, a group of Canadians invented the game in 1977 – they were looking for an alternative to wheelchair basketball, a great game for paraplegics, but challenging for quadriplegics with limited arm function.

Quad Rugby collisions happen often and can look brutal. Players don’t get hurt too often or too badly, believe it or not, because the chairs are designed to protect against it.

“Those guys said, ‘You know what, we can’t play basketball. Let’s make our own game,’” says Gordy Johnson, informal pit crew mechanic and father to Portland Pounder Kip Johnson. Having repaired rugby chairs for the team for almost 10 years, Gordy has an appreciation for the technical strides the game has made in the past 40 years.

“You hear all kinds of stories about the beginnings... guys would play in their regular everyday chairs, wearing pointy cowboy boots to poke between spokes to stop the other team. Nowadays, rugby chairs are specialized ... they can cost $12,000. Titanium, Kevlar spokes. They’re much lighter, and when you’re pushing with limited arm function, that makes all the difference.”

Quad Rugby provides a great way for quadriplegics of all ages and abilities to get some physical and recreational therapy, not to mention being a terrific support network. Gordy Johnson (above, adjusting the chair) keeps everything mechanically sound.

Amazingly, despite the constant collisions, the players don’t get hurt too often or too badly, according to Portland Pounder Jake Merriman.

“The chairs are designed to protect against that,” says Merriman. “The most I’ve seen is fingers getting mashed, maybe a bump on the head. You actually get good at falling over.”

Though the game combines elements of basketball, hockey and handball, as well as rugby, longtime Pounders coach Ed Sehrs, who played rugby in college before his injury in a car accident, says Quad Rugby is true to its rugby roots.

“The spirit of the game is very similar,” Ed says. “It’s a contact sport, but it’s also about the camaraderie on the court and off.”

For the uninitiated, it might be a bit confusing to see quadriplegics using their arms to roll their wheelchairs and even throw the ball. It’s an eye-opener to learn that quadriplegia doesn’t necessarily mean “paralyzed from the neck down.” What quadriplegia actually means is there is some form of paralysis or impairment in all four limbs. The level of function directly relates to the level of injury to the spinal cord; the higher the injury to the cervical spine, the more reduced the function. Every spinal cord injury is unique, leading to an interesting player rating system to keep the game fair.

Regardless of the wide variation in abilities, it’s clear there is one common denominator: Exercise vastly improves function, as well as quality of life. Because of the improved mobility and function in their arms, most players are able to drive their own cars. Kip Johnson, for example, bought his Toyota Sienna rampvan from a teammate. Toyota’s wheelchair-accessible Siennas have lowered floors, allowing users to travel in the front, center or rear of the van. Removable seats can be configured so one can either transfer into the driver’s seat or drive from their wheelchair. The automaker provides financial assistance in the form of a $1,000 reimbursement to any buyer who purchases a wheelchair accessible Sienna.

“It makes a huge difference, having that independence,” says Johnson. “The freedom of being able to just drive myself over to a friend’s house, and not be dropped off, is huge.”

This year, the Portland Pounders came in second in the national championships, a decent showing in this year of transitions. A star player, Will Groulx, left to pursue handcycling (and took gold at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio), and player Seth McBride took the postseason off to welcome his first child. But this team, and the families and friends who cheer them on, is about so much more than the sport itself. Their success lies in creating awareness and providing support for the quad community. They visit the newly injured at rehab centers and hospitals, and Ed Sehrs scans the crowd for wheelchairs at Blazer games, eager to share the news: Life does get better.

“Wheelchair rugby pretty much saved my life,” says Merriman. “After you have an injury like this, you can get pretty low. But being around a group of guys who are so accomplished, it was so encouraging. It made me see that where I’m at isn’t the end of the road.”

Seth McBride encourages anyone in a chair, regardless of how long, to get moving.

“Muscle can be built,” he says. “The strength that I gained through sports translates into my everyday life and made me a lot more independent. Don’t be afraid to try things.”

The team welcomes anyone to come to a practice and just try out a Quad Rugby chair, whether they’re interested in playing or not.

“The important thing is to be around other people in the same situation,” says Sehrs. “We support each other.”

Next season, Sehrs is passing the coach’s whistle on to Kip Johnson; he’s planning to coach his twin sons, now 12, in basketball. Johnson hopes to continue the team’s outreach to quadriplegics and get the word out to the community, and hopefully find sponsorship.

“I don’t think I’d be where I’m at without the guys on my team,” Johnson says. “This team’s opened doors for me and let me not have the injury define who I am. Nothing is impossible